(no subject)
I've just come back from Edinburgh. I made a rather spontaneous decision to go on Sunday upon waking up to find myself faced with nothing more exciting than collecting eggs for the next two weeks. So I left a note, packed my bag and caught the next bus to Inverness and then the next train to Edinburgh. I arrived in Edinburgh in the dark. It's dark enough that I have to turn on th light at 4pm now. I keep forgetting how far north Scotand is because it's not so cold. I found a really... "groovy" hostel in an old house looking at Edinburgh castle. It was great.
Edinburgh castle is situated on an extinct volcano. Because of this there are sheer clffs on three sides of this fortress. The only way in is up a narrow ridge of volcanic rock. At the bottom of this ridge is Hollyrood Castle, the Queen's residence in Scotland. The road between te two is called the Royal Mile. Edinburgh was originally built excuslively along the Royal Mile, and now it is the site of the Old Town, where all the tourists and kilt shops and trendy restaurants stay. All the roads leading off the Royal mile are narrow and very steep, so their names are "Wynds" and "Closes" for obvious reasons. I fell in love. It would take months to explore Edinburgh properly, and I only had a couple of days, but the weather was sunny and not too cold.
I went to the (former) hunting park behind Hollyrood first, and hiked up to Arthur's Seat, the highest point for miles around. It was so winy up there I got blown off my feet! It was quite scary really, because it was steep! I wondered around all day, trying and failing to get my fill of beautiful old churches and castles, narrow streets and wide boulevards and general hustle and bustle. Last night I went on a Haunted Tour of the city. These are many and well attended, because it is well known that Edinburgh is one of the most haunted places in Europe. There are gruesome tales from those streets, which are too long to relate here, but gave me the willies. We went into ancient underground vaults also, which were scary as heck, and also kind of claustrophobic, but as soon as we came out, grasping our chests where our hearts were trying to leap out, we were treated to a complimentary drink in a sweet little pub. Just what the doctor ordered. This morning I gave in and paid the ridiculus price to see inside the Edinburgh castle. Everyone was buying audio tours inside, which were ridiculously expensive and made them look like complete dafties. Standing stock still, staring at walls or gates or whatnot, listening hard to a voice no one else could hear. I took 5 minutes to read the brochure and found out that there were free tours given but well trained historians in traditional dress (yup, that means kilts!) every 15 minutes! Boy did I ever feel smart. I got to see the place where Mary, Queen of Scots lived and the Scottish Crown jewels, as well as the kings rock, a rock where the kings of Scotland sat when they were inaugerated from way back before written history, a tradition as old as the Standing Stones. There was so much more, but I'm guessing you're all bored with me and my absorbed information of the last few days. But I'm very excited. Scotland is wonderful, and though I'm leaving it in just over a week, I'll be back as soon as I can.
Edinburgh castle is situated on an extinct volcano. Because of this there are sheer clffs on three sides of this fortress. The only way in is up a narrow ridge of volcanic rock. At the bottom of this ridge is Hollyrood Castle, the Queen's residence in Scotland. The road between te two is called the Royal Mile. Edinburgh was originally built excuslively along the Royal Mile, and now it is the site of the Old Town, where all the tourists and kilt shops and trendy restaurants stay. All the roads leading off the Royal mile are narrow and very steep, so their names are "Wynds" and "Closes" for obvious reasons. I fell in love. It would take months to explore Edinburgh properly, and I only had a couple of days, but the weather was sunny and not too cold.
I went to the (former) hunting park behind Hollyrood first, and hiked up to Arthur's Seat, the highest point for miles around. It was so winy up there I got blown off my feet! It was quite scary really, because it was steep! I wondered around all day, trying and failing to get my fill of beautiful old churches and castles, narrow streets and wide boulevards and general hustle and bustle. Last night I went on a Haunted Tour of the city. These are many and well attended, because it is well known that Edinburgh is one of the most haunted places in Europe. There are gruesome tales from those streets, which are too long to relate here, but gave me the willies. We went into ancient underground vaults also, which were scary as heck, and also kind of claustrophobic, but as soon as we came out, grasping our chests where our hearts were trying to leap out, we were treated to a complimentary drink in a sweet little pub. Just what the doctor ordered. This morning I gave in and paid the ridiculus price to see inside the Edinburgh castle. Everyone was buying audio tours inside, which were ridiculously expensive and made them look like complete dafties. Standing stock still, staring at walls or gates or whatnot, listening hard to a voice no one else could hear. I took 5 minutes to read the brochure and found out that there were free tours given but well trained historians in traditional dress (yup, that means kilts!) every 15 minutes! Boy did I ever feel smart. I got to see the place where Mary, Queen of Scots lived and the Scottish Crown jewels, as well as the kings rock, a rock where the kings of Scotland sat when they were inaugerated from way back before written history, a tradition as old as the Standing Stones. There was so much more, but I'm guessing you're all bored with me and my absorbed information of the last few days. But I'm very excited. Scotland is wonderful, and though I'm leaving it in just over a week, I'll be back as soon as I can.